Rocketeer
by kawei
Summary: We've seen the lives of the heroes...but what about the villains? The life of a Team Rocket member as he goes about his own journeys and missions to discover what he's really looking for.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: ...ok, how long has it been since I've even conceived this idea? Way too long. And yet...I oddly can't let go of it. Anyway, this is a rewrite of an old story I thought up about a year ago, created on the pure basis that...honestly I wasn't happy with how it was going, along with the fact that on a random whim I just felt like reanimated it...but yea...

Premise/summary: Do any of you who have played the red/blue/yellow/fire red/leaf green versions of the games remember the Nugget Bridge in Cerulean City and the Team Rocket member who offered you a spot in Team Rocket after beating all the trainers? Well, I was thinking, what if you actually chose to take up the man on his offer? This is the story of a trainer who did.

Anyway, here it is, enjoy.

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Pokemon. But the OCs in this are mine, that's saying something right?

* * *

Rocketeer

Chapter One: Moonlight Encounter; a boy and his ghost

"Yawn~"

The security guard let out a huge yawn as he reclined in his chair, an obvious look of boredom plastered on his face. It was late at night in the busy Saffron City but instead of partying or sleeping like the guard wanted to do, he was stuck working the graveyard shift at the Saffron City Museum of fine arts. After getting up to do a bit of stretching, he glanced at the watch on his left hand and gave an annoyed grunt.

"2:30 AM…" the guard mumbled. "…stupid night shift…"

Sitting back down at his post, he turned on the small TV at his desk. Reclining back in his seat and throwing his legs over the desk, the guard stared mindlessly at the late night sitcoms to pass the time; wasn't like anything happened here anyway…

* * *

As the security guard laughed at the antics shown on the TV, he missed two shady figures sneak behind him and into the exhibit. From a distance and due to the darkness, one would probably see two unidentifiable phantoms gliding gracefully across the museum floor, but at a closer look, anyone could recognize the familiar black uniform and the infamous red "R" insignia stitched at the right breast and know that the two "phantoms" were in fact, common grunts of the pokemon crime syndicate: Team Rocket.

One of the grunts unhooked a pokeball from his belt and clenched it tightly.

"Should I take the guard out?" He whispered to his cohort.

"No, you moron…" His companion snarled silently. "You heard the boss, get in the museum and get the goods without causing a commotion…"

"Oh…" the first grunt said as he nodded to the other grunt. "Alright, let's go then…"

The grunts quickly scanned the map they had stolen and then ran off to the nearest door on the left. In their haste, they didn't realize another person watching them from a large, decorative zeppelin model hanging from the ceiling. The person walked out of the shadows to reveal himself as a young man in his late teens. From his appearance, one could guess that the main color scheme of his outfit was probably dark. He wore a tight grey long sleeved shirt, black combat pants, black boots, and a long black coat to top it all off. He had wild black hair and his while his face was obstructed by a simple white mask; one could still see a glimpse of his vibrant, oddly colored purple eyes.

"Stupid morons…" the masked man mumbled to himself, shaking his head sadly. "The objective is at the door to the right…they went the wrong way…"

Letting out a sigh, the masked man turned heel to the other side of the room, to the door on the right, and as he turned, one could also see the same red "R" insignia on the back of his jacket. With a skillful, ninja-like grace, the masked man jumped off the blimp model and onto the overview of the one of the higher floors. Hopping onto the railing, he went down on a low crouch and launched himself off on one of the pillars and slid down harmlessly like an aipom going down a tree. Running past the door, he quickly rolled into the shadows to prevent another security guard that was surveying the area from seeing him. Sneaking from the shadows, the masked man managed to get behind the sleep deprived guard and grabbed him in a sleeper hold, effectively and efficiently, putting the man to sleep.

After making sure the man was completely unconscious, the masked man looked around the area once more and quickly ran past the next door before the guard's comrades notice something amiss and come in to check up on him. Running past a few more corridors and admiring some of the paintings hanging on the walls, the masked man turned left and saw his objective. There in the center a small square room, with walls of magnificent paintings of the heavens, sat a beautiful diamond pokeball that sat on the velvet pillow on a pedestal. The moon shone brightly above the glass ceiling and gave the pokeball a strange, almost ethereally enchanting appearance.

"Found it…" the masked man said, his voice carrying a hint of pride. "…the legendary pokeball with power that brings the master ball to shame…Heaven's Capsule…"

After disabling the surveillance system, the masked man slowly approached the display and reached towards the ball, only to have his hand lightly singed by a barrier. Quickly retracting his hand before the barrier could continue to burn his entire arm off, the masked man quickly turned around to make sure no guards had come. After making sure he was still alone, the masked man reached into one of his jacket's inner pockets and pulled out a rare light ball. Juggling with the item for a few moments, he then grabbed the orb and with a swift motion, gently pressed it against the barrier which began to spasm and spark as the light ball grew brighter and brighter with every passing second he kept it against the barrier. The security measure continued to fluctuate for a few more moments before suddenly shutting down; its power completely lost.

"…you'd think they would start using something a little more effective and difficult to break than these R-478 barriers if they knew all it takes is a light ball to disable them…" the masked man said to himself self as he let go the light ball, which shattered from at the moment it left his hands.

Pushing the thoughts of outdated security equipment to the back of his mind, the masked man quickly grabbed and pocketed the diamond pokeball and turned exited the room, ready to make his undetected departure. As he entered the corridor however, ready to leap out a nearby window, the loud ringing of the security alarm set off, throwing the once tranquil area into chaos.

"What the hell…?" the masked man mentally snarled. "Why are the alarms going off now?"

Just then he heard a pair of loud, rather idiotic voices belonging to the two other members of Team Rocket coming from the west wing.

"Dude, what the hell, you just set off the alarm!"

"Aw come on, you can't blame me for that! I was just trying to grab that pretty picture; you know you wanted it too!"

Smacking his forehead, the masked man let out a string of swears.

"Stupid morons…" he snarled. "Don't they know the importance of staying undetected in a job like this…?"

"Hey!" The voice of a guard, quickly approaching my area yelled. "There's someone here too!"

Suddenly, the masked man found himself surrounded by three guards, each of them armed with a night stick, flash light, and a rather vicious looking growlithe.

"…you've got to be kidding me…" He sighed before taking out a pokeball from his belt.

"The suspect has produced a pokeball," one of the guards announced into his walkie talkie. "It is very likely a fight will break out."

Smiling from behind his mask, the man threw the ball down onto the ground, causing a bright bang, temporarily blinding every guard and growlithe in the vicinity. After the effects of the flash had passed, all of them got into battle positions, ready to fight the intruder. However, as their vision began to become clearer, the guards soon discovered that their target was no longer around.

"Shoot…!" Another guard yelled as he whipped out his own walkie talkie. "The suspect has escaped using the flash from an empty pokeball and is now on the run. All forces; move out and meet at the central wing, first floor; we'll catch this rat for sure!"

As the guard shouted out the orders, the masked man, now running through a nearby, empty corridor let out a sigh; he had heard the guard's orders and now knew which course of action he should avoid.

"They really shouldn't yell out their plan of attack; the enemy might hear them…"

Quickly darting to the staircase, the masked man ran up to the third floor. Upon arriving at the doorway to the central wing, third floor, he slowly peaked over the balcony and saw a large mass of security guards standing and staring at the nearby door, obviously waiting for someone. Shaking his head sadly, the masked man scaled through the balcony, only to find five more security guards in front of the door.

"Heh," one of them chuckled. "Knew stationing some of our men on the higher floors was a good idea…"

"Well then, I guess I owe you a coke…" Another guard laughed. "Now let's go!"

And with that, the guard's along with five arcanine charged straight at the masked man. Letting out a light swear, the masked man looked at the team of the guards and then at the mass of security personnel downstairs. After a moment of pondering, the masked man jumped off the balcony and with the precision of a cat, landed gracefully on his feet onto the first floor, greatly shocking the large group of security.

"There he is!" A guard yelled after he quickly recovered from the shock. "It's the mastermind!"

"…mastermind…?" the masked man snorted mentally. "They think I'm working with those two idiots…?"

"Get him!" Another guard yelled, interrupting the man's thoughts and in a loud bang, the masked man was now being stared down by at least twenty five growlithes and their owners.

The masked man sighed once more.

"Always with the growlithes…" he mumbled. "Granted they're good, loyal partners, but seriously, the law enforcement should look into a larger variety among its pokemon…but that's not the case at the moment. I need to get out of here, and fast, but first thing's first, I need to make sure those two moron's don't get caught; they might be in possession of important information we can't afford to let the police get their hands on…"

"Stop right there!" The guards yelled, almost simultaneously. "Growlithe; use flamethrower!"

The group of puppy pokemon stood their grounds and inhaled a large amount of air before exhaling, letting out a large, dangerous blast of fire, created from the wide scale group collaboration. Purple eyes widening, the masked man quickly rolled to the sides to avoid the blast of barbequing him.

"Enough of this…" he growled as he took out another pokeball. "…guess I'll have to resort to force…"

Facing the guards, the masked man threw the pokeball. "Haunter, take care em!"

In a bright flash, a haunter, in all its spectral glory, appeared on the battle scene. He was a healthy looking pokemon, obviously well taken care of; its medium build allowed it for fast mobility but could also be depend on taking and dishing out powerful physical attacks. His sadistic smile and crazy eyes painted a picture of fright that struck the hearts of all the enemies there. Looking around at his surrounding for a moment, the haunter then threw his head back, and let out a bone chilling cackle that seemed to force the overall temperature of the museum to drop more than a few degrees.

"Partner!" The haunter cheered, floating over and throwing his floating severed hand around his master's shoulder. "What do we have here?"

From his mask, the man gave his pokemon a burning glare that didn't seem to phase it. "Something rather stupid happened here, Haunter," the masked man replied, removing his pokemon's hand from him, obviously not amused with the happy go lucky, buddy-buddy attitude his pokemon had with him. "We're going to have to fight our way out if we want to make it back alive…"

Despite the apparent severity of the situation, Haunter looked downright overjoyed.

"…so…" he giggled as he bounced up and down, hardly able to contain his glee. "I get to kick some asses?"

"Yes, you get to kick some asses…" the masked man sighed. "So get to it! Shadow ball, then follow it up with a night shade!"

"You got it partner!" Haunter laughed as he blasted out a large black orb at the group.

The attack landed in the enemy's center formation, causing the guards to break position rather quickly. Amongst the confusion and chaos, Haunter then quickly flew behind the group and charged up for a powerful night shade attack.

"You guys were unlucky when you decided to attack the bestest team in the whole, wide world!" Haunter roared. "Now eat this, bitches!"

Haunter's eyes suddenly widened and with that, the shadows seemed to bend as the ghost pokemon launched a wave of spiritual energy at the group, sending the guards and their pokemon flying, along with the intended effect, the night shade also tore through several walls, stairs, and flooring, effectively turning the central wing exhibit into a battle torn war ground. The masked man smacked his forehead, not sure whether or not to be more annoyed with the overzealous collateral damage or the lousy grammar and crude attitude his pokemon had displayed. Ultimately dismissing the dilemma, the masked man quickly recalled his ghost pokemon and ran towards the west wing. As he entered the corridor leading to the area, he heard the two grunts, pleading for their freedom.

"Please let us go!" One of the grunts cried pathetically as he bent down in a low bow.

"Yeah!" His partner shouted out. "We…we have information! We could give it to you! Just let us go!"

"…what do you think rookie?" One of the guards asked, turning to a much younger man. "It might be useful to get some information on Team Rocket. The commissioner put you in charge so it's your call…"

The masked man shifted slightly in an attempt to get a better look at the situation at hand, the alleged rookie, who was apparently also in his late teens stepped forward to talk to the captured rockets. His hair was wild and blonde; his eyes were teal and cold. He wore a black button up shirt, dark brown slacks, and a long tan overcoat. The rookie's cold eyes tore into the grunts, causing them to sweat.

"…so…" one of them said as soon as he regained power over his voice. "…we have a deal…?"

The rookie snorted and produced a pokeball from his belt and tossed the device in front of the grunts. The ball opened the moment it came in contact with the floor and in a flash of light, a kadabra stood proudly before the rookie.

"I don't negotiate with people who have sold their souls to the darkness." The blonde said coldly. "Kadabra, psycho cut."

"…as you wish…" Kadabra replied, and with that, the spoon in the psi pokemon's hand turned violent purple and transformed into a large energy blade. Kadabra then ran the energy sword through the two rockets, killing them almost instantly.

"…geeze that kid's brutal, isn't he?" one of the guards whispered to another. "But I guess it comes with being part of the International Police Force huh?"

"…yeah," the other guard whispered. "Even if he is a rookie he's much stronger than we are; the IPF are on a whole different level from us…"

From the shadows, the masked man clenched his fists in apprehension. The IPF or the International Police Force was a collection of trainers from all over the world, working towards law enforcement and keeping rouge trainers and evil syndicates in line. The IPF is also very selective, having trainers to fulfill a number of requirements and an entrance examination; it is said only the best of the best are allowed in as a member of the force.

"Alright," A security guard announced. "We still can't rest; there's still another intruder in the building. The reports states he's male, wearing a black overcoat and a white mask, and is supposedly more dangerous that those other two. He's also has the Heaven's Capsule under his possession so we have to make sure we catch him! Men fall out!"

"Wait," the rookie said calmly, stopping the guards from heading out to search. "I don't think we'll have to search very far; Kadabra tells me that our culprit is close by."

"He is?" a guard asked. "Where?"

The rookie and Kadabra closed their eyes simultaneously and began to focus. "Oh I would have to say…there!" the young man yelled as he pointed to the spot in the shadows where the masked man was hiding. "Kadabra, use confusion!"

"Of course," Kadabra obliged, raising his spoon as he shot the psychic attack.

The masked man's eyes widened as he saw the attack rush towards him. Cursing under his breath, he jumped out the path of the confusion, consequentially leaving his cover among the shadows and revealing himself to the police.

"Heh…there you are…" the rookie chuckled before pointing at the masked man once more. "Kadabra, psybeam!"

Kadabra's eyes began to glow and the fox like pokemon shot a rainbow colored beam at his target. Eyes widening, the masked man jumped out of the pysbeam's trajectory and summoned Haunter from his pokeball; he wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Heeeerrrreeesss Haunter!" Haunter laughed as he appeared. "Another fight partner? You sure are active today aren't you?"

"Sure, why not." The masked man replied in an irritated tone. "Now quickly, use night shade."

"You got it, jerk," Haunter replied cheerfully as he launched a blast of spiritual energy at the rookie and his kadabra.

"…why you…" the rookie snarled as he and his pokemon jumped to avoid the attack. "Kadabra, psycho cut!"

"Haunter, dodge and use shadow punch." The masked man calmly replied.

Haunter evaded Kadabra's deadly, psychic, energy blade by diving into the shadows. Letting out a little giggle, the rather insane ghost pokemon jumped out and struck the kadabra right in the face. Kadabra staggered back a bit; the attack obviously took a lot out of him.

"Damn…" the rookie swore. "We have to finish this now; Kadabra, psybeam!"

"Agreed, we should finish this," the masked man replied. "Haunter, shadow ball!"

"Understood…" Kadabra replied as he shot the rainbow colored beam at his and his master's enemies.

"Righty-o!" Haunter laughed as he launched the shadow ball right into the psybeam.

The rainbow beam and the black blob came into contact with each other, resulting in a large flash. The rookie and the rest of the guards shielded their eyes to avoid being blinded. As the light died down, the realized their culprit had used the flash to escape. As the security personnel ran off, hoping they would still be able to find their masked thief, the rookie stared down at the spot where his opponent previously stood; clenching his fists, he swore to himself that the two would meet again.

* * *

"Yahoo!" Haunter cheered as he and his trainer ran out of the building and into the night. "That was fun! Most fun I've had in a while!"

"…that's great…" the masked rocket deadpanned. "Now how about keeping your mouth shut so we don't run into anymore trouble?"

Haunter glided in front of his trainer and pouted while his eyes began to well up with fake tears.

"Oh partner," he gasped. "Why must you hurt me so?"

The masked trainer's eyes narrowed and as he began to tell his pokemon off, a blast of fire suddenly shot him in the face. Upon seeing his trainer being assaulted, Haunter immediately dropped his joking act and began to look around attentively for the assailant.

Then out of the shadows, a girl, probably about sixteen years old stepped out. The girl had dark brown hair and the same teal eyes that that rookie they had fought had. She wore a white tank top, a light hooded sweater with black and pink stripes, a pair of jeans, and converses. At her side was a vulpix, crouched down, ready to fight.

"Good job Vulpix." The girl said with a smile, praising her fox pokemon.

"The haunter is still standing, shall we go again?" Vulpix asked, looking up at her trainer for further instruction.

Haunter stared at the girl and her vulpix incredulously. His partner had just scaled across an entire museum, fought off a bunch of strong enemies, counting that scary blonde bastard and his kadabra, escaped like a badass, only to get successfully hit by some random girl and her little vulpix; it was too much for the gas pokemon to take and he began to laugh uncontrollably.

"HAHAHAHAHA…oh my Mew…" Haunter laughed, clutching his sides. "You got past the guards and even that scary blonde dude without a scratch…haha…and then this random girl hits you! It's just too funny! HAHAHAHA!"

Then a burnt mask was chucked at Haunter. The ghost pokemon dodged and turned to the source of the somewhat half hearted attack and smiled.

"Hey welcome back Partner!" the gas pokemon exclaimed.

Haunter's trainer stepped out of the shadows; his face now visible after discarding his mask. He was rather young, probably seventeen or eighteen judging from his handsome facial features. His strange purple eyes were narrowed in a glare and his mouth was pressed in a frown.

"Hey!" Haunter exclaimed, grabbing his trainer's cheeks. "I can see your face! Look at the handsome boy!"

The now unmasked boy's eye visibly twitched and he took a swing at the ghost pokemon, who promptly dodged. "Stop screwing around…" he snapped in an annoyed tone.

"Sigh, my bestest buddy is always so mean…" Haunter sighed in false sadness.

The mysterious boy ignored the ghost pokemon and turned towards the girl who was staring at them with a shocked look on her face.

"Do you have some kind of business with me?" the boy asked.

The girl quickly got over her stupor and pointed an accusing finger at him. "Yes, as matter of fact, I do! You must be that Team Rocket member causing all that commotion in the museum!"

"And what if I am?" the boy asked, figuring it would be too much a hassle to try and lie to the girl to convince her he wasn't the thief. "What does it matter anyway? Are you some kind of vigilante trying to save the world from bad people like me? Or maybe you're just some kid trying to find an easy way into the IPF?"

It wasn't unheard of, he had had encounters many trainers trying to do something big by themselves in an attempt to be noticed by the IPF; sadly, a good number of them never did survive their endeavors…

The girl's face turned red and her eyes narrowed in embarrassment and anger. "…why you…Vulpix, use flamethrower!"

Vulpix nodded and blasted a stream of fire at the boy and his haunter who immediately dodged.

After dodging a few more attacks, the two then began to hear sirens approaching their area.

"Haunter," the boy called out. "Let's finish this! Shadow ball!"

"You got it!" Haunter cackled as he shot out the shadow ball. The black blob sped towards the girl and her pokemon, engulfing them in a small, black explosion, effectively knocking them out.

"Maybe that was a little much…" the boy mumbled as Haunter did a little victory dance. "…whatever…Haunter, let's move!"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you," Haunter replied. "Oh, but what are we going to do with out little assailant?"

The boy looked down at the girl and her vulpix who were now out cold. While his first instinct was to leave them, a small, foreign, tugging sensation hit his chest and he knew he couldn't leave them.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, he turned to his pokemon. "Hey, Haunter, help me out here…"

* * *

"Izzy! Izzy, wake up!" A voice called out to her.

"Wha?"

Izzy, woke up with a start to find herself lying down on a bench.

"…what the heck…?" she asked, looking around to discover that it was her vulpix that woke her up. "What happened to that guy?"

"I don't know…" Vulpix replied. "I just came to myself…"

Izzy stood up from the bench, to find that she was wearing a long overcoat. "…where did this come from…?"

"I don't know either…" Vulpix said. "You were wearing it when I woke up."

Izzy took of the coat to inspect it; it was nice coat, made out a comfortable, yet durable, dark material. Further examining the jacket, she then saw the Rocket symbol sewn on the back.

"The Rocket symbol!" she gasped as a memory soon came back to her. "Wait, didn't that masked guy we fought had a jacket like this?"

"Yeah, I think he did!" Vulpix cried. "…so why do you have it…?"

Izzy stared at the jacket in disbelief until it all hit her; after the fight, the rocket had obviously brought her to a safer area and given her his jacket to help keep warm. The real question plaguing her now was why.

"Why would that Rocket help me…?" She asked out loud as the familiar ringing of sirens rang throughout the entire Saffron City. "Oh, brother must me out looking for me…" She mused as she got up and ran to the direction of the sirens, a sense of dread forming in the pit of her stomach; her brother wasn't going to be happy.

While Izzy ran off to the police, the mysterious boy and his haunter ran throughout the city, trying to find an exit.

"Hey partner," Haunter asked. "Can I ask you a question?"

"No," the boy deadpanned.

"Aw come on, I just want to know why you decided to help that girl out." Haunter whined, pausing for a moment before pounding his palm in a flash of insight. "Ooohh, has my wittle partner found love?"

The boy didn't stop running, but he did turn to give his pokemon a nasty glare. Quite frankly, he wasn't sure of his actions either; usually, he wouldn't give trainers he had beaten a second though; just take them down and leave them to their faith. It was how he always operated; how every self respecting "villain" always operated. So why didn't he do the same to that girl? Shaking his head, he continued to look for an exit before the police found him, having no idea that tonight was the beginning of something that would turn his world upside down…

* * *

And there you have it. Please read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey all. So…yeah, I was originally going to wait a few weeks before working on chapter 2 but then I figured what the hell, let's give it to them early. So yeah…here's chapter 2. Please read and enjoy

Disclaimer: …no, I don't own Pokemon, not in this reality anyway.

* * *

Rocketeer

Chapter 2: The Rocket Game Corner and Boss: Giovanni

"…psychic…" the nameless boy whispered as a flock of zubat and golbat charged at him. "This time, don't hold back; I'm sick of their interference."

Haunter laughed as he brought his disembodied hands up in front of him.

"One psychic attack; coming right up!" He yelled as a blue aura formed over his hands. Clenching his fists, the ghost pokemon let loose a blast of psychic energy, blowing the wild pokemon away. "Hell yeah, that was fun!"

"Fair enough," the nameless boy replied in his standard monotone. "Now if you will, another fleet of those bats are coming right at us."

"Of course!" Haunter roared as he charged up for another psychic attack.

If one were to ask any normal civilian, he or she would be told that there are two underground paths found in the Kanto region; one that leads from Cerulean city to Vermilion and another leading from Saffron to the outskirts Celadon. What those people were not aware of was there were much more underground pathways in the region. The paths were usually well hidden and unlike the normal ones, were riddled with dangerous traps and wild pokemon. The paths also tended to branch out into countless dead ends, making them rather nasty labyrinths for those who dared to venture into them. However, despite their downsides, the paths did have some uses. Within the secret dungeons, there were a large number of precious and useful items, making them a virtual gold mine. The paths also lead into depths of various cities, allowing their adventurers to enter a city completely unnoticed; making them perfect places to make a quick getaway.

Skillfully dodging the aerial strikes from the zubats and golbats and the underground ambushes from the hidden geodude and graveler, the nameless rocket and his haunter ran ahead, both of them hoping they would reach the exit soon.

"Haunter, can you see the exit?"

The ghost pokemon strained his eyes and a wide, toothy grin overcame his face.

"The exit's bout seven yards away; I can see the stairs!"

The rocket nodded and ran ahead. After a few minutes of dodging assaults from wild pokemon, the reserved young man saw that his haunter was true to his words as the staircase exit was now in front of him.

"Excellent work Haunter, now return."

"What? All that work I did and all I get it's a…"

The gas pokemon was unable to finish his rant as the rocket resealed him back into his pokeball. Checking around to see if there was any wild pokemon nearby, the rocket ran up the stairs, climbed the latter found at the top of the fleet and climbed up and opened the trap door found at the top.

* * *

"Yahoo, I'm a winner!" A man in his mid thirties cheered, jumping up and down like a maniac as the slot machine before him began to spit out a large amount of coins.

"Come one seventy two…" another man mumbled as he watched the large roulette spin. "…come on, daddy needs a new pair of shoes…"

"Haha, blackjack! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" A blackjack dealer chortled as he took the large pot of chip, relishing in the stunned looks of the players.

"…hey…" a wealthy looking man said, getting the attention of a beautiful girl, wearing an elegant blue dress. "Can I buy you a drink…?"

Celadon City was a happy, lively place; honestly, it came with the territory of being one of Kanto's largest cities. Its beautiful scenery, large yet friendly community, and of course the massive shopping districts and activity centers made it one of the tourist hot spots, attracting millions of people yearly. If one were to ask a visitor or traveler the main reason why he or she had decided to visit this wonderful metropolis, he would probably give one of three choices: the massive shopping departments, carrying all the latest gear and fashion for pokemon trainer and civilian alike; the celadon gym, where if one wasn't there to fight the leader for a badge, he could partake in the activities and cultural classes the gym had to offer or just stay to ogle the leader, unofficial princess of the city Erika and her band of female trainers; or the Rocket Game Corner, the biggest casino the Kanto region had to offer.

Forcing the manhole, the nameless rocket managed to get out of the darkness of the underground path, only to find himself in a dirty alleyway bordered with several trashcans along its moldy walls. Looking towards the better lit half of the alleyway and hearing the heckling, cries of joy, cries of despair, and late night flirting from the other side of the wall, he deduced he had taken the right path and had reached the massive casino.

"…underground pathways…they never fail…" the rocket chuckled as he pulled an ID card from his pants pocket and slid it through a slot found next to the door. As the door opened, he was greeted by a sight of various chefs rushing back and forth a rather fancy kitchen, their hands full with various exotic foods and alcohol, no doubt, ready to be consumed by the patrons outside. Walking past the chefs who were honestly too busy tending to their work to really take any notice of him, the rocket walked through the kitchen before reaching a locker room on the far right end. Entering the room, the rocket immediately made a beeline towards a locker and after opening it grabbed some of the clothes there in order to change out of his mission clothes so if anyone among the generally festive atmosphere did notice him, no one would make a scene.

"…you'd think at three in the morning these people would just call it quits huh?" Haunter asked from his pokeball, also hearing the roars from the outside.

The rocket just chuckled as he put on the fancy shirt and began to fix the buttons.

* * *

"Ah partner," Haunter chuckled from his pokeball. "It never ceases to amuse me when you dress like a civilian."

"…it doesn't matter how it amuses you," the rocket replied, now dressed in a black tuxedo, his long, black hair slicked back. "This form will cause less commotion among the customers."

"Bah," Haunter snorted. "Not like those maniacs out there will even notice you."

Letting out snort, the rocket stepped out of the other exist of the locker room, effectively brining him to the casino's main room, the gamblers there were enthusiastic as ever. Turning around, he saw the exchange room where the coin the casino exchanged for cash were stored. The men and women there were running around, calculating numbers in their heads and keeping track of the monetary losses and gains of the night. Among the chaos, one of the women, however, did notice his intruding presence.

"Excuse me," she said, moving past the counter, walking up to him while pushing her glasses up in an attempt to correct her eyesight; it had been deteriorating in the past few weeks. "Are you authorized to be here young man?"

The rocket nodded and dug into his pocket and pulled out the same identification card that had gained him access to the casino in the first place.

"Ah…" the woman exclaimed as she examined the card, her stern expressing becoming softer. "Agent 013, I trust you are back from a mission?"

"That is correct ma'am," the rocket, now known as Agent 013 replied crossing his arms. "And by any chance would Giovanni be in tonight? I'd like to finish my status report so I can actually get some damn sleep."

Frowning at the rocket's somewhat flippant, no nonsense attitude, the accounting woman nodded her head and pointed out to a corridor leading away from the main gaming area.

"Master Giovanni is indeed in tonight; he should be at his quarters." She said.

013 turned towards the corridor and nodded and word of silent thanks to the woman. "Understood, I'll see my way there then."

Passing all the slot machine, card and dice tables, roulettes, bars, and shows that were going on all around him, 013 eventually reached the corridor, meeting two well dressed guards standing in front of a doorway at the end of the hall. After seeing the ID badge, the two guards stepped aside to let 013 into the doorway. The rocket member walked through the door and entered into a small hallway. Walking across it, 013 found a poster at the end. Placing his hand on the seemingly normal poster advertising the casino, 013 mumbled a password and the entire hallway began to glow causing a secret stair case to appear at the next to the poster. Agent 013 walked down the staircase, entering a world completely different, yet strikingly similar to the world of the casino.

* * *

"Golbat, use wing attack!" a rocket yelled as his large bat pokemon charged, wings spread out, at its enemy.

"Muk, don't let the sorry excuse for a bat hit you! Use sludge bomb!" Another rocket yelled as his muk shot blasts of black slime at the descending bat.

As the two rocket grunts fought, a small crowd of similarly dressed and ranked rogues yelled and cheered, placing bets on the outcome of the battle. While majority of the rockets basked in the sight of the bloodbath, a few others stayed in the sides; the men sweet talking the females and vice versa; 013 chuckled as he watched his comrades interact; despite the cold and less luxurious accommodations, the inhabitants of the Team Rocket secret hideout made him feel as if he had never left the casino at all.

"Hey you!" A large, apparently drunk rocket grunt yelled, pointing an accusing finger at 013. "I haven't seen you round here… you some kind of trespasser or something…?"

013 shot a glare at the man, who promptly ignored it, most likely due to his inebriation.

"Sorry to dissapoint," the young rocket deadpanned as he held out his ID. "I have business with the boss; mind getting out of the way?"

"Teh Bossssssss?" The grunt slurred, wobbling back and forth. "Forget him, now why don't you be… a good little…boy and leave so the adults can play?"

013's glare intensified at the oaf of a man's words; he hated being patronized, even if he had a tendency to do it himself. "…move…" he said in a deadly whisper.

"Hmm….naaahh," the grunt said, laughing as if he made some sort of witty comment. "But I think I'll have the pleasure of removing you from here! Ratacate, go!"

"…very well then…" 013 replied coldly. "Haunter…"

Haunter came out of his pokeball and began to cackle madly. "HAHAHAHA what's shaking partner?"

As Haunter cackled, a number of grunts had dropped what they were doing as their blood ran cold. Granted, due to the mask that he usually wore, 013 wasn't exactly an easy person to recognize. However, even for those who haven't even seen his face, the flippant attitude and bone chilling cackle of his Haunter were almost the calling card of the cold, uncaring agent.

"Haunter," 013 said as he crossed his arms. "If you will, use a psychic on that buffoon and his ratacate."

Haunter let out a sadistic grin and charged up for the attack. "You got it buddy!"

"Don't call me buddy," 013 snapped.

"You got it jerk!" Haunter replied cheerfully as he launched the psychic attack at the grunt that had completely sobered up at the sight of the infamous demon agent and his ghost from hell.

The attack made contact with the man and his pokemon and sent them crashing against a wall, knocking them out. 013 nodded and promptly returned Haunter before the ghost pokemon could do more collateral damage. The other rockets were paralyzed with fear at the display the agent had demonstrated and all was silent for a moment. Suddenly a slow clapping noise broke the silence, shocking everyone in the room. 013 turned around to the source of the noise to see a young girl, about his age approach him. She was a head shorter than he was, with sunny, shoulder length blonde hair done in curls and dark eyes. She wore the standard female rocket uniform however, opting for white and pink hat, boots, gloves and skirt rather than the traditional all black ones.

"My, my," the female rocket laughed as the grunts scrambled to salute her. "Such power; you've trained hard haven't you, 013?"

"Agent 009," 013 said, his expression stoic. "You're looking well."

"Agent 009?" The girl asked pouting. "Why so formal? I'd much prefer it if you called me Domino…" she whispered huskily in his ear.

013's eyebrow raised as he noticed that Domino's display had caught the attention of many of the men in the room. It wasn't a particularly uncommon sight to see; the blond agent had countless men at her beck and call. With her flirtatious, playful persona and as some of his "colleagues" had eloquently put "smokin hot" looks, 009 was just the kind of person who could easily get past the defensives of most men and mercilessly strike the moment her true dark nature emerged behind all the doe eyes and bubbly giggles. She took great pride in her ability to reduce men into jelly with her charms and being the special brand of bastard he was, 013 took great joy in outright ignoring her advance.

"Agent 009, if you do not mind, could you step back; I need to see the boss and you standing so closely makes it rather difficult to move." 013 said calmly, a small snide smirk forming on his face as the other men in the room stared at him like he had some horrible sort of brain damage.

Domino's face turned a shade of red in anger and embarrassment as she stepped away from her stoic fellow agent; his flippant attitude always did annoy her something special. The smirk still plastered on his face, 013 walked towards the steps and descended lower into the hide out. As he left, Domino clenched her fist and hit the railing, leaving a rather large dent.

"…damn that 013…" she snarled silently. "How dare he resist my feminine charms…?"

* * *

"Ugh," 013 groaned as he made it across the last floor trap. "I should really find the scientist who designed this base…and punch him in the face…"

"Yeah, we get it partner; you hate the floor traps." Haunter said in a dismissive manner, his voice resonating from his pokeball into his trainer's mind; mastery of psychic attacks had some pretty interesting perks. "I'm just wondering what are you doing standing here complaining bout floor traps when you could be having fun with that blonde girl."

"If you're referring to 009, I believe I've already had my fun with her." 013 replied. "I always do get a warm fuzzy feeling walking away knowing I've fully and thoroughly pissed her off."

"Wow...you two are so hot for each other even I can see it, and I'm not even in the same species." Haunter deadpanned. "Partner, she totally wants you, and honestly...I think you're a little too uptight. You really should get laid..."

013 blocked out Haunter's words and he walked into the elevator, pressing down on the b4 floor. After a few minutes, the elevator stopped and 013 walked out, greeted by the sight of a large doorway guarded by two rocket grunts. Walking towards the door, 013 took out his ID and showed it to the guards.

"Agent 013 here to deliver my mission report to the Boss." 013 said, giving a short bow.

One of the guards took a look at the ID and nodded to his partner.

"He checks out," he said. "Open the door."

Nodding, the other guard turned around to the nearby control panel and entered in a number of codes. After waiting for a few moments, the large door creaked open, leading into a poorly lit hallway.

"The boss's quarters is at the last door at the end of hall," the guard said as he stepped aside, allowing 013 to proceed.

Nodding at both of them, 013 walked through the doorway. The hallway, although poorly lit, was still clearly, very luxurious. Walking past the doors and fancy paintings, 013 eventually reached the final door where his master resided. Like the guarded door from before, the door before him was large and extravagant. Taking a deep breath, 013 walked up to the door and placed his hand over it.

"Password please," the door's security system suddenly said in its ever present monotone.

"…all exist for our glory…" 013 replied calmly.

"Password accepted; please enter." The system droned as the doors opened, revealing a large, comfortable looking office. At the end of the office, Team Rocket's grand leader, Giovanni sat at his desk, his right hand holding a glass of brandy while his left stroked the fur of his prized persian.

"You really should look into getting more lighting in here." 013 replied offhandedly as he sat down on the chair opposite of Giovanni who watched his prized agent with amused eyes. "It must be murder on your eyes, though I really shouldn't talk; working in the shadows and moonlight and what not."

"Ah, Agent 013," Giovanni said as he got up from his seat and walked towards his agent. "I trust everything went well?"

"If you're talking bout your little diamond toy," 013 replied, taking the Heaven's Capsule out of his pocket and tossing it towards his boss. "I think I have what you're looking for."

At that moment, Giovanni's usually cold, dark eyes flashed with greed and excitement as he snatched up the artifact.

"Excellent," Giovanni said as he examined the ethereally beautiful artifact closely. "You've once again outdone yourself."

"Fantastic," 013 replied unenthusiastically. "Oh and just so you know, some grunts got themselves tangled up in the mission causing up a huge mess out of everything. I would appreciate it if you were to go ahead and tell the executives or commanders or whoever the hell is in charge of handing out missions to keep their damn noses out of my missions."

Giovanni's eyes narrowed and his mouth pressed into a harsh frown.

"I was not aware of this," Giovanni said, setting the Heaven's Capsule on his desk and crossing his arms.  
"Rest assured, I will get to the bottom of this. After all, the missions of the agents are my job alone to assign. You may go though."

A dark glint flashed through Giovanni's eyes and 013 knew someone was going to get tortured before the night was over. That really didn't matter to him though. It had been a long annoying night of being chased by guards, a psycho with a kadabra, and a foolish vigilante and all he wanted to do was to leave this creepy office and get some sleep.

"Fair enough," 013 replied, turning heel to exit the office. "Oh and I expect my full payment by tomorrow morning if you don't mind."

Giovanni snorted, as his agent left the room. As the door closed, the Team Rocket boss picked up his glass of brandy and took a sip before lowering the glass away from his face and promptly crushing it in pure rage.

"Sheila!" He barked, pressing the intercom for his phone to contact his secretary.

"Y...yes sir?" The young woman responded through the other end; obviously frightened at his harsh tone, but then again who wouldn't be?

"Send McDougal up to my office." Giovanni snarled. "I think it's time I had a little chat with my Mission's Director to re-educate him on proper hierarchy.

013 wouldn't be around to see it, but he was right; blood was going to be split tonight.

* * *

And there you have it. Hope you enjoyed it.

Oh and on another note, since this is pokemon, I'm looking into expanding the characters' teams.  
The problem is that I'm now currently working with 600+ pokemon with the advent of generation 5 so as you all can see…I have quite a lot to choose from. Please review what pokemon you would like to see showing up and I'll put it in consideration, thanks!

Till then…peace~


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